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Roland RD-88


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They weren't afterthoughts... their goal was to make a super-slim RD keyboard, which could only be accomplished with the wheels above the left corner. Now it can fit in the back seat of small cars!

I meant their design. They look as if they were added afterwards instead of fully incorporated in the shell.

Great review, by the way, best one on the RD-88.

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I just picked up an RD-88 this past Friday. It replaces an FP-50 that had served as a teaching tool. I first became interested in the RD after using a church job supplied Casio PX-S3000 for a solo, holiday piano gig at my mom's nursing facility. I liked having an even lighter, more compact piano with great additional sounds/fx, built-in speakers and pitch/mod control. Unfortunately I lost the church job in late June, so no more PX-S3000. But after doing some homework (and selling a couple no longer needed items) I ordered the RD-88.

 

First thing I did with the RD-88 was to play the SN Concert Piano Scene that appears upon startup, and dive into Hanon #'s 1-20, plus scales, arpeggios and couple of other excercises; I also played through a couple of solo pieces. The action feels less fatiguing than that of my Stage 3, 76. While I like the convenience of playing piano on the Stage and keeping some gigs to a single keyboard, adding the RD-88 to the rig is very attractive. Right now it's set up in my spare room studio (which now doubles as a virtual teaching space for many of my students), and it plays very well with my Logic Pro X rig. I'm also planning to take it out for two upcoming stage gigs this month and in October.

 

I've started to dig into the controller and sound engines; it's very straightforward; almost, but not quite a 'toss the manual' instrument. Another thing that intrigues is the Zen-Core tie-in. I've created/modified a handful of Tones in the Fantom, and imported a couple of them into the RD, yesterday. With some effects and EQ tweaks they should dial-in well. I'm planning to re-create a few of my Scenes from the Fantom; most of which are 2-4 zones. Though a particular signature Scene is 4-zones, it'll adjust okay to three - the Scene zone limit of the RD-88.

 

So far I'm enjoying the RD-88. It's one of the more practical keyboards of recent years. And extra review points for being part of the Zen-Core family: Having a speakered stage piano/controller that could also be considered a "Fantom Lite" is an added benefit. Wish I'd had it for those late '19/early '20 bar gigs (where I took the Fantom 7, 2nd-tier, albeit nervously - due to the 'interractive drunk-spilled drink' potential). Like the Stage 3,76 I can see this one becoming a core piece of my rig.

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

We need a barfing cat emoticon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It"s an amazing instrument for the money. Good to great action, tried and tested, updated SuperNatural pianos (preferred by some pianists to the RD-2000 sounds including the V-Piano) and 3000 Zen-Core tones in a lightweight but sturdy package. Speakers (tweeters on top and woofers underneath) are sufficient for home use. PianoManChuck did a vid on them too. MainStage (and Logic) integration is self explanatory. And those control wheels are way better than the usual double-function Roland stick.

 

I"m even thinking about getting a Fantom to tinker with Zen-Core sounds and use them in the RD-88 as Allan did.

Any more thoughts on that, by the way? Would the scene zone limit (3) on the RD-88 make it impossible to play Fantom"s 4-zone scenes?

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Yes, for $1199 this keyboard brings a lot in a very lightweight package. I see myself using this keyboard in a variety of applications and gigs. It's really hard to go wrong with a purchase of this board unless you already have a very similar board. Roland really thought this one thru well. That being said, I do wish the acoustic piano had a little longer decay. If I play a RD700nx versus this RD-88 I do see a difference in the concert grand's decay. Not sure if anyone else feels the same.....piano sounds are SO subjective. Other than that, I am very happy with the level of quality sounds this is capable of.
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Kurzweil Forte 7, Mojo 61, Yamaha P-125,

Kronos X61, Nautilus 73

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It"s too bad Roland left out the Piano Designer from this instrument. I created a custom piano voice on my RD-800 with it, so it"s disappointing they left it out. I"d also like to see a 76 note version with the same action, but that probably will not happen.

 

While the Zen Core thing is a nice idea, I"d have to buy a Fantom or Jupiter to take full advantage of it. More of a ploy to buy into their ecosystem.

 

They don"t get my money on this one.

.

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That being said, I do wish the acoustic piano had a little longer decay. If I play a RD700nx versus this RD-88 I do see a difference in the concert grand's decay. Not sure if anyone else feels the same.....piano sounds are SO subjective.

 

I did notice that. The FP-50 I just sold had a more piano-like envelope shape; same with the FP-4 I had until 2012. Not a deal-breaker, but kind of weird. I've been trying to install the EXZ 014 Complete Piano Wave Expansion - which is supposed to be an improvement - from Roland Cloud Manager, off and on for the past few hours, but the technology gods are being extremely pissy today. The Roland Cloud Manager functionality frankly sucks on my PC, so I'm trying to get an not 'invalid' wave expansion file (as my RD-88 tells me on attempted install) by going to my MacBook Pro instead.

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

We need a barfing cat emoticon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Might be a little while. I've tried multiple USB drives, downloaded EXZ014 and EXZ013 to both PC and Mac; nada. Still getting the 'Incorrect File' message from the RD-88. Had read previously that the EXZ001 pianos were the only ones available for the RD, but my Core Roland Cloud subscription shows both EXZ013-14 available for the instrument. Meanwhile it looks like I already have EXZ001 (might be the piano block that comes with OS 1.12?) Maybe info was wrongly posted, code incorrectly entered, or it could be user error - though my service/support research doesn't bear that out. I may contact Roland at some point this week...

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

We need a barfing cat emoticon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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While the Zen Core thing is a nice idea, I"d have to buy a Fantom or Jupiter to take full advantage of it. More of a ploy to buy into their ecosystem.

I really see this as a cup half empty vs. cup half full scenario. It is so rare that ANY low end board lets you load in sounds from the higher end boards. So I don't criticize them for letting you load them but not fully edit them. In fact, my big initial disappointment with the Korg Grandstage was that, while it used Kronos engines/sound, you could not load your custom/favorite Kronos programs into it (even if you limited them to using the same subset of Kronos engines). I thought the idea of a more portable stage-friendly Kronos "player" would have been really cool, even with no real editing facility. And if they saw that as a way to sell more Kronos (i.e. to GS owners), I have no issue with that, either. They're in business to make money, and if they can give you good value for your money while also prompting some users to want to buy more of their products, I think everyone gets good benefit out of it. And coming at it from the other angle, I bet more Kronos owners would have considered adding a Grandstage if they had added that compatibility between them.

 

At any rate, I think you are supposed to be able to get full editing of those Zen Core sounds even without a Fantom, via Zenology Pro. $10/month, or $100/year. Which is still a lot cheaper than buying a Fantom, especially if you only pay for the occasional month here and there as needed.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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In fact, my big initial disappointment with the Korg Grandstage was that, while it used Kronos engines/sound, you could not load your custom/favorite Kronos programs into it (even if you limited them to using the same subset of Kronos engines). I thought the idea of a more portable stage-friendly Kronos "player" would have been really cool, even with no real editing facility. And if they saw that as a way to sell more Kronos (i.e. to GS owners), I have no issue with that, either. They're in business to make money, and if they can give you good value for your money while also prompting some users to want to buy more of their products, I think everyone gets good benefit out of it. And coming at it from the other angle, I bet more Kronos owners would have considered adding a Grandstage if they had added that compatibility between them.

 

Early on, I had hoped Busch's Tines for Kronos could make their way into the Grandstage.

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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A person posted on the RD88 Facebook group that adjusting ( increasing somewhat ) the release and decay settings in the concert grand edit page as well as adding some reverb helps with the ' short' decay of the piano sound. I tried it and it helps slightly but to my ears, doesn"t make it similar to the RD700nx concert grand that I play every week at church. Not that the RD88 acoustic piano is terrible at all, it"s just not what I expected having played the RD700nx.

Kurzweil Forte 7, Mojo 61, Yamaha P-125,

Kronos X61, Nautilus 73

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A person posted on the RD88 Facebook group that adjusting ( increasing somewhat ) the release and decay settings in the concert grand edit page as well as adding some reverb helps with the ' short' decay of the piano sound. I tried it and it helps slightly but to my ears, doesn"t make it similar to the RD700nx concert grand that I play every week at church. Not that the RD88 acoustic piano is terrible at all, it"s just not what I expected having played the RD700nx.

Thanks for this update. Sure hope for a solution. Do keep us posted.

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The acoustic piano isn't terrible, though the shorter decay isn't what I've been used to with Roland - even with their entry-level SN instruments. The decay reminds me of a Casio PX-130 I played briefly when selling Casio out of teaching studio several years ago. Acceptable, but easy to distinguish from an acoustic or higher-end digital. Thankfully Roland has a lot other realism working for the pianos in the RD-88, plus having the built-in speakers and control features are important to me. But if the Casio PX-560 had similar MIDI and zone control features (think PX-5S with speakers) I might be having some second thoughts now; the more recent PX pianos are very competitive with Roland instruments within a similar price range. Hopefully the EXZ piano expansions (EXZ 013/014) offer longer decays. If not I hope Roland addresses this in the next EXZ piano release.

 

Though I've had difficulty with loading the EXZ expansions into the RD-88, I've been told there's a detailed instruction video coming soon from Roland :thu:

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

We need a barfing cat emoticon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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But if the Casio PX-560 had similar MIDI and zone control features (think PX-5S with speakers)

Yeah, a PX5S/PX560 hybrid would be great. Give the PX5S the touchscreen (and related easy split/layer function) of the PX560, along with the speakers and expression pedal jack. Though adding the display and speakers take up space so something would have to go. You'd probably need to lose the battery compartment, and some of the buttons whose functions would move to the touchscreen.

 

opefully the EXZ piano expansions (EXZ 013/014) offer longer decays. If not I hope Roland addresses this in the next EXZ piano release.

At least so far, I think the EXZ expansions are re-packaged SRX cards. So EXZ013 Concert Grand Piano is SRX-02, EXZ014 Complete Piano is SRX-11. I don't know when Roland last produced a new strictly sampled piano, I would be surprised to see a new wave expansion for piano. All their more recent piano efforts seem to have been focussed either partially or entirely on modeling (SuperNATURAL and V-Piano), and I don't think there's been any indication that sounds using those technologies can be loaded into the RD88.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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The RD88 is of course already using the supernatural acoustic piano. From scrolling thru AP list of programs already present in the RD88 thier seems to be other APs from previous expansions included but since there were a number of piano expansions Roland released over the years I would need to compare thier names with the lists of each one to see what's there and what's not. Layering an expansion piano with the supernatural may produce an interesting alternative (but cut down on polyphony) The RD1000 piano is in there I know for sure and supposedly Elton John would layer that under all of his piano tones back in the day to create his signature "sound". Not that that one sounds like a real acoustic piano, just an example of layering.

Kurzweil Forte 7, Mojo 61, Yamaha P-125,

Kronos X61, Nautilus 73

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Good point that RD88 includes SN pianos... though in the list of expansion compatibility, it shows SN sounds being able to be downloaded into the Fantom but not the RD. Whether this is because the RD doesn't support downloading additional SN sounds or simply that the currenntly available downloadable SN sounds were already in the RD and so redundant, I don't know.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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This is the same keyed as the FP- 10?

 

I am actually curios to try the 10...

But I have never seen one. Just needing a lightweight portable at the moment.

 

Roland really giving bang for the buck these days. I am sick of the clattering noise on Yamaha and not fond of the Casio mid range plunk. Gonna look into an FP. 10

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Good point that RD88 includes SN pianos... though in the list of expansion compatibility, it shows SN sounds being able to be downloaded into the Fantom but not the RD. Whether this is because the RD doesn't support downloading additional SN sounds or simply that the currenntly available downloadable SN sounds were already in the RD and so redundant, I don't know.

When Fantom was released, it didn't have any SN sounds (not piano or anything else), that's why SN piano became available later for download into the Fantom.(other SN sounds came with a new OS release).

RD already included SN right from the start.

PianoManChuck

Authorized reseller: Casio, Dexibell, Kurzweil, Nord, iLoud, Viscount

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Here's a Scene edit I just did - using a Z-Core piano Tone instead of a SuperNatural one. I started with the Concert Piano 1 Scene, and went from there. While I did try lengthening the envelope decay on the SN Tone first, I got much smoother, less clunky results doing that with a Z-Core Tone.

 

There are three short, recorded examples - two of each. The first of each is the factory Concert Piano 1 Scene, the second is my own Scene - Z-Core Piano 1 (Using Tone PR-A 192) There has been some discussion regarding a slightly short decay of the RD-88's SN pianos, and I'm aware that at least one person has tried adjusting the decay and release of the SN Concert Piano Scene. I decided to try something different by bypassing SN altogether. To my hands and ears, the Z-Core piano edit plays and sounds a bit smoother. The System EQ has been adjusted slightly: LF -1dB @80Hz; Mid1 0dB@200Hz, Q 4; Mid 2 -3dB @400Hz, Q 8; Mid 3 +2dB @ 6300Hz, Q 8; HF 0dB @10,000Hz.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9e07f0he2ebfeo4/RD-88%20SN%20vs%20Z-Core%20Pno.mp3?dl=0

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

We need a barfing cat emoticon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Interesting Allan, thanks for recording these. I do see a difference in the decay between the 1st and 2nd pianos. It is more apparent in the 2nd musical phrase you played where the notes are slower and held out sustained more. It seems like the decay of the PR-A 192 piano is longer. However, I clearly notice the stereo width is much narrower on the Zen Core piano and the bass EQ is rolled off more on the Zencore piano. The stereo width is easily adjusted with the "color" knob on piano scenes.I would imagine the width is different between these two scenes. I am curious as to what others think....

Kurzweil Forte 7, Mojo 61, Yamaha P-125,

Kronos X61, Nautilus 73

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Good to have your thoughts on that, aellison62; thanks! I also plan to try something similar with the AX pianos, which start at PR-B 280, and possibly the pianos from the E and CMN banks. Many of the Tone names are familiar to me, either from factory presets or expansions since first owning a JV-1080 (now an XV-5080).

 

I hope to post some more piano editing efforts in the next several days. I've also been noting additional useful sounds, as the plan is to take the RD-88 out this weekend as part of a two-keyboard rig. So lots of getting acquainted with the RD's interface and various editing quirks. I've already asked Ed Diaz to put in a software editor request to Roland :laugh: .

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

We need a barfing cat emoticon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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AFAIK, plain zen-core patches (not ones that require particular additional engines) can be transferred to any compatible model. The number of elements are the same. Though the number of patches you can split or layer are different, of course, so even though individual patches can be moved, you can't necessarily recreate the same *combinations* of patches.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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How are you guys that have these liking the action for acoustic piano?

 

I am sort of linking this to a thread I started on the FP 10 which apparently shares the same action andbpossibly a similar acoustic sample

 

Thoughts on this action please...at the moment fewnif any Roland instruments can be found in stores near me

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I posted a few comments earlier on this page of the thread regarding the action. I do find it slightly quicker and less 'heavy' than that of my Stage 3, 76; it reminds me of the S90XS I once had, though the RD-88's action is graded vs. equally balanced (i.e. - Yamaha MOX(F) 8, S90XS, Motif 8 and MODX 8....). One similarity to The RD-300NX is the tendency to 'bottom out' easily. Practicing yesterday reminded me of that: The exercises and pieces I played didn't fatigue my hands, initially, but there was mild soreness/stiffness later on. That type of reaction rarely - if ever - happens on my Nord or Acoustic upright. Have to remember that it's easier to overplay on some of Roland's actions.

 

I've loaded in several Fantom 7 Tones. As individual instruments, using the Tone-based FX, they're essentially identical. Played side-by-side there's a slight clarity/sonic depth difference (Better DA converters in the Fantom,no doubt.), but live I don't think the averge audience would notice, or care. I attempted to re-create a original, 4-5 Tone Fantom Layer in the RD - using what I'd consider the three most essential Tones; it works very well - with similar caveats to those mentioned above. Even with two Tones it works okay, as I sometimes use that signature sound with organ split to the LH (I've set up similar instances in my Fantom, Stage 3 and MODX). For a layered clavitar/velocity-based synth comp patch, it can still sound massive when slammed - even with two Tones. The RD appears more than capable of delving out competitively large synth sounds; it has a healthy amount of Fantom mojo happening.

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

We need a barfing cat emoticon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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AFAIK, plain zen-core patches (not ones that require particular additional engines) can be transferred to any compatible model. The number of elements are the same. Though the number of patches you can split or layer are different, of course, so even though individual patches can be moved, you can't necessarily recreate the same *combinations* of patches.

 

I was chewing on this little hangnail over in the Zenology cousin to this thread. My Sweetwater rep asked the in-house Roland rep what was up. He said the RD-88's ability to use cross-patches from their Cloud's >ZENOLOGY< engine was "pending," which loosely sounds like a pending firmware update. That'll work! It makes me wish I needed an RD-88, because I love the added insider-powers that come with things like new Korg Mini/Prologue oscillator engines. I look forward to hearing from the first few who use Zen-core as their hidden "synth module" in a live setting. Its a very good, sci-fi sort of utility. :thu:

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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